Actors/Actresses

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Kevin Thompson was a man who was experimented on by his parents since his childhood in order to treat a neurodegenerative disease, but the treatment ended up giving him the new ability to control people's minds at his will. Assuming the name Kilgrave, he began to use his powers for personal gain and developed a cruel nature, eventually coming across Jessica Jones whom he kept as his personal sex slave for several months.

Kilgrave became obsessed and fascinated with Jones, even falling in love and hunting her down since she managed to overcome his thrall, using Hope Shlottman and Malcolm Ducasse to get closer to her and trying to manipulate her into staying with him. Kilgrave's quest for a loving future with Jones soon fell apart when she tried to have him arrested, and now furious at the betrayal, he focused his efforts on enhancing his powers with the help of his father and finally killing Jones. He was eventually cornered while trying to escape New York City and had his neck broken by Jones.

Born in the 1970s to parents Albert and Louise, Kevin Thompson quickly developed a serious brain malfunction which required a great deal of treatment. Thompson spent much of his young life going through seemingly never ending tests alongside extremely painful treatments, including spinal fluid extractions. These experiences caused Kevin to hold a great resentment towards his parents for never showing him affection and instead concentrating purely on their work. Eventually he developed the power to control people's wills and make them do as he commanded with ease.[2]

Controlling Parents

"We carried out his every childish demands for years.""He was throwing a tantrum, but I was busy ironing and... I, I never should have yelled at him but..."

Thompson forced his parents to obey his every command, using them as his personal slaves and slowly developed a complete lack of empathy for human needs, focusing entirely on his own desires and pleasure from other people's suffering. Eventually, at the age of ten, he forced his mother to burn her face with an iron, permanently scarring her. Due to fear for their own lives, his parents abandoned Thompson and left him to fend for himself for the next twenty years, using his powers to force others to give him food and shelter. Eventually Thompson renamed himself Kilgrave to hide his identity.[2]

Meeting Jessica Jones

Beginnings of an Obsession

"Here I am, just debating where to eat and then BAM, there you are, performing feats of heroism. Come here, let me look at you, come on. Jesus you're a vision, hair and the skin, appalling sense of fashion but that can be remedied... But underneath it all the power, just like me. Though not quite as good, of course."

While walking through New York City with two beautiful women under his control, Kilgrave witnessed Jessica Jones display her incredible strength while saving Malcolm Ducasse from muggers. Fascinated by Jones' powers, Kilgrave ordered the two women to leave and focused his attention on Jones, asking her about her incredible powers.

He commented on what a beautiful woman Jones was, although he was not fond of her clothing and asked if she enjoyed beating up the thugs who were attacking Ducasse. Jones told Kilgrave that she did because it made her feel like she was making a difference in saving him like the Avengers, something Kilgrave struggled not to laugh at. Changing the subject, Kilgrave ordered Jones to smile before taking her under his control and ordering her to join him for dinner at Niku, telling her that she would enjoy Chinese food with him. The pair then left together, leaving Ducasse bleeding on the floor.[5]

Over the next few months Kilgrave kept Jones as his mental prisoner. Although he viewed their extended period of time together as a real and loving relationship, he constantly used his powers to force her to spend time with him, care for him and have sex with him. When Trish Walker would call Jones to ensure that she was alright, Kilgrave ensured that Jones explain that everything was fine. Kilgrave would treat her to dinner and use his vast wealth to stay in five star hotels, including the Plaza Hotel; however it would constantly be his powers keeping her by his side, not Jones' own free will.[4]

Testing Loyalty

Kilgrave orders Jones to cut off her ears

"If you don't listen to me what is the point in having ears?""To listen to someone else.""You never appreciate anything I do for you. If you can't listen to me you don't need ears... Cut them off."

Wishing to test if Jessica Jones wanted to stay, he gave her no orders for twelve hours, the amount of time for someone to fall out of his control. However he found Jones had decided to not leave him, allowing him to believe that she truly did love him. He found Jones standing on a balcony and ordered her to step down; when he questioned why she initially had not listened to him, he decided to punish her by ordering her to cut off her own ear. When she began to obey Kilgrave changed his mind and hugged her.[6]

Losing Jessica Jones

When Kilgrave learned that Reva Connors had come into possession of a hard-drive featuring footage of the experiments performed on him as a child, he became obsessed with keeping it a secret. He forced Connors to reveal its location and ordered Jessica Jones to use her enhanced strength to dig it up. Eventually after digging through feet of concrete and leaving her hands dirty and covered in her own blood, Jones discovered the hard drive and handed it to Kilgrave, who did not speak a single word.[7]

Having gained what the evidence of his mother and father's horrific experiments on him and others as children, Kilgrave, Jones and Connors stepped outside to complete his plans. With no further use for her, Kilgrave ordered Jones to execute Connors, which she obeyed by punching her so hard in the chest that she flew several feet and her heart stopped, killing her instantly. While Jones walked over to see if Connors was truly dead, Kilgrave looked on without any emotion for the innocent woman he had murdered for no reason other than protecting his own identity and secrets.

Wishing to move on with his life, Kilgrave ordered Jones to leave Connors' body behind, but was shocked when he witnessed Jones disobeying him and walking away into New York City. Kilgrave screamed at Jones to come back to him immediately, but she refused, instead walking further away, enraging Kilgrave further. At the same time, a bus driver, drinking on the job, accidentally crashed and rolled his bus, causing Kilgrave to be hit and very nearly killed by the impact. Witnessing this, Jones did not go back to help Kilgrave and instead left him to die in the gutter as she walked away.[8]

Recovery

"What shape was Kilgrave in? How badly hurt?""One of his kidneys had been destroyed in an accident. The other one started to break down."

Having almost been killed in the accident, Kilgrave sought the help of Doctor David Kurata and forced Jack Denton to donate both his kidneys to him. Kurata was forced to perform the surgery on Kilgrave without any anesthesia and saved his life, while Denton had a stroke from the shock of losing his kidneys. Kilgrave then ensured that his death was faked and went on the run while Jessica Jones believed he had perished.[3]

Return to New York

Using Hope Shlottman

"He's back, he sent clients to me, this couple from Omaha, he took their daughter. Remember I told you, he had that one month anniversary night, and now one month from the day he took Hope he's doing the lingerie, the gift, the restaurant."

Having recovered from his injuries, Kilgrave returned to New York City and took control of a young woman named Hope Shlottman, keeping her hostage for weeks while raping her numerous times. In order to send a message to Jessica Jones, Kilgrave took Shlottman to the same restaurants as he taken Jones years before. When Jones was hired by Shlottman's parents to find her, Kilgrave ordered Shlottman to wait on a bed for Jones and when she was close, murder her own parents, which she obeyed.[4]

Tormenting Jessica Jones

Kilgrave takes over a family home

"Children should be seen and not heard. Or better still not seen and not heard. Get into that closet!"

Seeking a place to stay in New York City, Kilgrave arrived at the apartment of a wealthy family and ordered them to allow him to come inside and stay with them. The couple were delighted and Kilgrave ordered their children to hide in the wardrobe so he did not have to look at or listen to them.[3] He stayed at the home, taking advantage of their hospitality while he continued to with his plans, using Malcolm Ducasse to take photographs of Jessica Jones in exchange for drugs; Kilgrave then used the photographs to decorate a room in tribute to Jones.

When Trish Walker openly insulted Kilgrave on her radio show while discussing Hope Shlottman's legal case, Kilgrave personally called the station to threaten her, noting that insulting him was a highly foolish thing to do as he could easily force her into killing herself as a punishment for the insult. In response Kilgrave took control of a police officer named Will Simpson and ordered Simpson to murder Walker. When Simpson returned while Kilgrave was relaxing and watching the football game, he informed him that Walker was dead, so Kilgrave calmly ordered him to jump off the balcony to his death.

However, to his shock, Jessica Jones appeared and saved Simpson, throwing him away from the balcony. Having caught eyes with Jones, Kilgrave used the distraction of Simpson attempting to commit suicide again to escape while ordering the homeowners to attack Jones. While Kilgrave got away, Jones subdued her various attackers and discovered Kilgrave's collection of Malcolm Ducasse's pictures of her.[8] Days later, Kilgrave listened as Walker apologized to him on her talk show; in response, Kilgrave enthralled a young girl and had her tell Jones that Walker was no longer a target of his.[9]

Poker Game

Kilgrave cheats while playing poker

"I don't know what just happened there, but you're going to sit down and give us a shot at winning our money back.""I've got a better idea, let's see how long it take you to put your head through that post."

Enjoying his time in New York City, Kilgrave attended a poker game with a group of gangsters. When Harvey attempted to light a cigar Kilgrave threatened to force him to put it out on his eyeball. Having gotten a terrible hand, Kilgrave decided to go all in with his cash and ordered the other men to do the same, mocking their nervousness and putting the money available to win at a million dollars. Kilgrave then ordered the men to fold and took the money for himself, revealing his terrible hand and mocking the group.

Kilgrave then had a group of women pack the money up for him as he prepared to leave with his winnings, handing one of the women a large sum of money for giving him luck. However Harvey tried to stop him and demanded that he give them all a chance to win back their money. Instead Kilgrave told him he had a better idea and ordered him to hit his head against a thick wooden post until he managed to knock his head entirely through it, while Kilgrave departed with his bags filled with cash ignoring Harvey's prolonged suffering.[7]

Jones Fights Back

Kilgrave is insulted by a newspaper seller

"I don't know about you but I'm exhausted. So rare for me to feel powerless, well I would have been if I hadn't been unconscious but in retrospect it's exhilarating."

To fuel his dangerous obsession, Kilgrave continued his arrangement with Malcolm Ducasse, arranging to meet Ducasse somewhere in Central Park every morning to have the photographs of Jessica Jones delivered to him. In order to protect himself by not appearing in the exact same location twice, Kilgrave would inform another civilian of his location so they could inform Ducasse and he could meet him there. During one of these occurrences, Kilgrave found himself insulted by a newspaper vendor, so he ordered him to throw boiling coffee in his own face before casually walking away.

This tactic, of no single person knowing where to locate Kilgrave, would be proved effective as not only was Kilgrave hard to find, but he knew that few people would look twice at the drug addicted Ducasse and would not likely question where he was walking to, meaning that although Jones lived inside the same building, it was months until she worked out Ducasse's connection to her tormentor. One day Kilgrave decided to meet Ducasse outside a small cafe where Ducasse delivered the pictures, with Kilgrave again keeping his back to the wall and remaining suspicious in case he was ever attacked by one of his many enemies looking for revenge.

As Kilgrave was speaking to Ducasse however, a balloon bursting caught his attention and he spotted Will Simpson walking towards him holding a paper bag which held a concealed weapon. Before Kilgrave could react, he suddenly heard the voice of Jessica Jones, who yelled out and called him a shit-head to briefly distract him. In the confusion Simpson shot Kilgrave in the neck with a dart; unable to react in time, Kilgrave fell to the ground unconscious while Simpson, Jones and Trish Walker put him in a van and drove away.

Kilgrave pulls out his own tooth and laughs

Fortunately for Kilgrave, his security team were able to use a tracker hidden in his jacket to find and managed to locate him and fight his kidnappers while taking him away before he could be locked away and interrogated. He woke up hours later in his apartment. Upon getting up Kilgrave looked at himself in the mirror and discovered a large bruise on his face, caused by a punch from Jones. Kilgrave reached into his mouth and painfully pulled the tooth out before laughing at himself for Jones' complete failure.

Kilgrave called Jones on the phone and told her how it felt to be powerless because of her, noting that he found it mildly exhilarating. He asked her why she had decided to keep him alive instead of killing him but Jones refused to speak a word. Kilgrave defended his actions involving Malcolm Ducasse, before promising to leave Ducasse alone if Jones began sending him pictures of herself. Jones hung up without a word but minutes later, Kilgrave received a photograph of her which made him smile a satisfied grin.[5]

Kilgrave searches for houses for sale online

While eating at a cafe looking on the internet at homes which may have been owned by Jessica Jones' family as she was growing up, Kilgrave became annoyed at the amount of noise coming from the other customers and screamed at them to be quiet. Once everyone was quiet and Kilgrave was satisfied, he received a text message from Jones which included a photograph of herself, Kilgrave commented that Jones was cutting it very close with her timings to deliver her picture to him, looking through all the other pictures she had sent before continuing with his work.[7]

Grand Gestures

Buying her Childhood Home

"I have absolutely no intention of controlling you, I want you to act on your own accord.""Act how? Suicide? Is that why you've been torturing me?""Oh my god, Jessica I knew you were insecure, that's just sad. I'm not torturing you, why would I? I love you."

In an attempt to win back Jessica Jones' love, Kilgrave located the house where she lived until she was thirteen before her parents and brother died. Taking the money he had won from a poker game, Kilgrave arrived at the home and spoke to the current owner Lin, expressing his desire to buy it. Kilgrave decided to negotiate with Lin and offered him the money which amounted to twice the house's value. As expected, Lin agreed to sell the house and even move out by the very next day.

Once the family was finally all ready to move out of their home with all their belongings packed away and the keys being handed over to him, Kilgrave made sure that they were happy about the agreement, and the owner tried to explain how delighted he and his family were with the deal. As Lin spoke for too long about how he had convinced his children that it was a game, Kilgrave became bored, using his powers and ordering them to leave the house immediately, uninterested in their personal views as taking slight pleasure as they obeyed his command without any question or even hesitation.

Kilgrave then began to silently walk through the house's now empty rooms and corridors and soon discovered one wall which had been covered over by wallpaper. Noticing that the door frame beside it had markings, Kilgrave pulled the wallpaper aside and discovered the markings were from Jones and her brother being measured for their height as they were growing up as young children many years earlier. Kilgrave stared intensely at the markings which signified a key part of the life of the one woman he loved, convincing himself that this grand gesture would finally make her love him as he loved her.[7]

Kilgrave traveled to the Alias Investigations Office with the intention of leaving a journal from Jones' childhood for her to find. While there he was interrupted by a knock at the door which turned out to be Jones' neighbor Ruben, who questioned why Kilgrave was in Jones' apartment late at night with all of the lights off. Kilgrave made Ruben reveal why he was there and was told he had brought her banana bread because he was in love with her. In response, Kilgrave forced Ruben to cut his own throat, causing him to then bleed out and die in Jones' bed, for her to discover his corpse that evening.

Back at Jones' childhood home, Kilgrave decided to increase the power of his gesture of love by using old childhood photographs to recreate the house to be exactly the same as when she lived in it decades earlier. Kilgrave hired a new security team and forced them to locate the exact furniture that the house had had while Jones was living there;[10] he even used a magnifying glass to work out the CDs that Jones had kept in her room. To ensure that Jones got a warm welcome, he hired top chefs to work for him for twice their original pay, convincing them that they were happy to be there.[1]

Taking over the Police

Kilgrave takes over the Police Department

"Calm down, you're killing the mood. Jessica... You're not surprised to see me. You had to know I'd come for you. Not this fast? I will admit to keeping eyes on you. Spies are easy to come by... For me.""Do whatever you're going to do to me, but let them go."

To the surprise of Kilgrave, Jessica Jones however used Ruben's corpse to get herself arrested by the New York City Police Department, dumping his head on a desk there and demanding to be sent to super max. Not wishing her to get taken into prison, Kilgrave traveled to the 15th Precinct Police Station and put every officer under his control and forced them to aim their guns at each other.

Kilgrave then ordered Brett Mahoney to bring Jones out to him from questioning; once Jones appeared, Kilgrave revealed himself and admitted to keeping spies on her at all times. Jones begged him to let the people go but he refused, stating he had no intention of controlling her mind ever again. When Jones questioned if he was torturing her to drive her to suicide, Kilgrave revealed his true love for her. They were interrupted when Oscar Clemons' phone began to ring; so Kilgrave furiously destroyed it and promised to force the next person to eat their phone, insisted it ruined his declaration of love.

Jones promised to come with him but he refused, knowing it was out of fear for others, not choice. He thought he loved people saying "I am new to love", but she tried to convince him that he had never cared about people. He yelled at her because he hated the fact that he didn't care about them. He told her how she was the first person he wanted who had left him which had made him yearn for her ever since she had left him to die under a bus. Once the security footage and all evidence that either of them were ever there was deleted, Kilgrave left with Ruben's head, complimenting Jones on the manual decapitation. Kilgrave then ordered everyone to find the situation hilarious and allow Jones and himself to leave, reminding her to look for the present he had left for her in her apartment.[10]

Having eventually found her childhood notebook within the Alias Investigations Office where Kilgrave had hidden it earlier, Jessica Jones got the message and traveled to her childhood home where Kilgrave was waiting, believing that it was the first day of their new lives together. He greeted her with a smile and welcomed her into their new home, although Jones remained unsure of his true plans.[10]

Once inside, Kilgrave began introducing her to the security guard Hank whom he ordered to search Jones for needles or any other weapons, noting that the Sufentanil she had injected him with before had given him a terrible headache when he awoke. Hank soon found a recorder which Jones had planned to use to get Kilgrave to confess to the murders of Hope Shlottman's parents, so Kilgrave took the phone away from her. Kilgrave then showed her around the house, admitting he wanted Jones to relive the happiest days of her life which were spent there with her now deceased family.

Kilgrave then introduced Jones to the cook and cleaners of the house; when Jones said she would not stay in a house with slaves, Kilgrave explained that they were all being well paid. Jones claimed to be tired, so Kilgrave showed her upstairs. When he tried to show her Phillip Jones‏‎' room, she told him to leave it; instead Kilgrave showed off her room. They were interrupted when Trish Walker called and Kilgrave allowed Jones to answer, listening as they discussed Will Simpson, whom Kilgrave insisted he had not killed, while Jones insisted she was safe and insulted Kilgrave to prove it.

Kilgrave waited several hours for Jones to come down for dinner; eventually she appeared, not wearing the purple dress he had left her and drank wine instead of eating the food Laurent Bouchard had prepared. Kilgrave ordered Hank to leave while he expressed his desire for them to have a real relationship. They discussed their time together and Jones blamed her drinking problem on being forced to murder Reva Connors; when Jones lost her temper, Kilgrave ordered the cook and cleaner to slit their throats until she calmed down. Jones then stood up, apologizing to the cook and cleaner as she left.

Hearing a commotion upstairs, Kilgrave called up to Jones, only to be told she had drunkenly fallen; however when he came upstairs to investigate, she informed him that there was a bomb in the basement. Hank quickly found it and confirmed it was real. Kilgrave furiously ordered Hank to fire the night guards who had let the assassin inside, suspecting it to be Will Simpson seeking revenge. Kilgrave then spoke to Jones, expressing his belief that Simpson had left the bomb and claimed that her saving his life meant she did care for him, although she claimed to not want any more death.[1]

The next morning Kilgrave enjoyed breakfast outside the house until he was joined by Jessica Jones, who began greedily taken the food that had been prepared. He was asked if he was ever haunted by his actions but Kilgrave claimed to rarely ever consider them, even the murder of Hope Shlottman's parents, but Kilgrave claimed he would be happy to kill his own mother and father whom he still despised.

They were interrupted when Jones' old neighbor Elizabeth De Luca appeared who Kilgrave invited to join them, De Luca began happily talking about Jones' family, explaining how Jones had always been a tomboy and claiming that Phillip Jones had been a terrible child, which Jones denied. De Luca went on to claim that she had had a vision of their death, but Kilgrave forced her to confess she was lying and ordered her to leave once she admitted that it was a terrible thing to say. However when Kilgrave touched Jones she furiously stormed inside due to not wishing to be touched by him.

Kilgrave defends his many terrible crimes

Despite Kilgrave insisting that they had done more than hold hands when they were together, Jones accused him of raping her, claiming that despite the five star hotels he physically and mentally raped her time and time again throughout all the time that she was under his control. Kilgrave confessed that he found it impossible to tell when someone was under his control, noting that in his power forced him to painstakingly choose every word he said as it would be obeyed regardless, using the example of the time he had told a man to go screw himself and had been horrified at the result.

Kilgrave shows the videos of his childhood

When Jones continued to push him about his past Kilgrave argued that he had never had a home or a loving family, although Jones insisted that the deaths of her family did not turn her into a murderer or rapist. To prove his point, Kilgrave took out the hard-drive he had taken from Reva Connors and showed Jones the footage of him being horribly experimented on as a young child, explaining that his own mother and father were scientists who desired to turn him into a freak but instead granted him his gifts and had abandoned him shortly afterwards, leaving him scared and alone.

Kilgrave discusses his traumatic childhood

As Kilgrave sat on the sofa watching the news with his mind filled with hatred for his parents actions, Jones questioned if he was a villain because he had never been taught how to be good since his parents had walked away from him at such a young age, with Kilgrave asking if she was mocking him by saying this. Seeing a news report about a homicidal man taking his family hostage, Jones recommended they go out, Kilgrave agreed but ordered Alva Ramirez and Laurent Bouchard to remove the skin from each other's faces if he did not return within the time that Jones had promised.[1]

Jessica Jones took Kilgrave to the dangerous site of a police stand-off with a man holding a gun to his terrified family which she had seen on the news. Realizing what was happening, Kilgrave mocked the idea, claiming not to care about the people or want the attention; however, Jones changed his mind. Kilgrave used his powers to calmly walk past the police until Jones used her strength to break inside the house.

Once inside, Kilgrave ordered Chuck not to shoot while Jones managed to get his family outside and away from danger. As they were leaving, the mother personally thanked Kilgrave for saving her, to which he ordered her to keep quiet about their involvement. Kilgrave then ordered the man to put the gun in his mouth, but Jones told him not to kill him and, despite Kilgrave's objections, convinced him to force the man to hand himself over to the police. Kilgrave expressed his belief that it had been a waste of time but Jones argued that they had successfully saved four lives.

Returning home in a fantastic mood, Kilgrave ordered Alva Ramirez and Laurent Bouchard to bring him cake to celebrate while he and Jones discussed why she had tried to be a hero. They debated how many lives Kilgrave would have to save to make up for the number of lives he had taken. When Kilgrave suggested that they become a team, Jones resisted; however Kilgrave argued that he did not know how to be a good man and needed her guidance. Jones decided she needed to go for a walk to think; Kilgrave allowed her as long as she knew that Ramirez and Bouchard would die if she did not return.

While he waited for Jones to return, Kilgrave ordered Ramirez and Bouchard not to blink until she came back. Kilgrave then answered a text from Jeri Hogarth on Jones' phone in which she asked Jones to find dirt of Wendy Ross-Hogarth. When Jones arrived back at the house, she handed over Chinese food, sharing it with Ramirez and Bouchard. Kilgrave remained suspicious of his food being poisoned, so Jones proved that it was not poisoned by tasting it herself. As they ate, Jones admitted that they should try to become a heroic team, something she had been discussing with Trish Walker.

When Jones left the table after spilling food, Ramirez and Bouchard both collapsed; before he could react, Kilgrave was attacked by Jones who injected him with Sufentanil, knocking him out and telling him that this was what she would do, before carrying Kilgrave away on her shoulders, getting past Hank on her way. As a safeguard, Kilgrave had ordered Elizabeth De Luca to return if he was in danger and detonate Will Simpson's bomb to the police officer, which killed his twofriends who had come to assassinate him, but only injured Simpson, with a shard of glass stabbing him in the side.[1]

Imprisoned

Tormented by Jessica Jones

"You built up my trust, pretended we were a team! You even made me a hero. All the while you were planning this! Why?!""Because you're not a hero. You're a murderer, Kevin.""Shut up! Kevin died in that lab."

Kilgrave later awoke up in an isolated cell with his bare feet ankle deep in water, with Jessica Jones watching him through a partition, while the video file of his past childhood experiments were projected onto the cell wall. Kilgrave expressed his disappointment with Jones' betrayal, reminding her that she made him a hero, but she begged to differ, calling him by his real name Kevin and accusing him of being a murderer.

Kilgrave insisted that the innocent little boy named Kevin Thompson had died many years ago in the laboratory, leading to Jones mocking the name Kilgrave, but Jones ignored his comment and continued to mock him over his choice of name, claiming that he could have called himself 'murder corpse' instead. She then demanded that he confess to killing Reva Connors, Hope Shlottman and Ruben, but he refused, insisting that he had never killed anyone and instead told the story of how he had first met Jones and fallen in love with her having saved her from muggers and forced her to have sex with him.

Not wishing to listen to anymore of Kilgrave's story, Jones resorted to hitting a big red button, sending an electric current into the water, electrocuting Kilgrave as Jones explained that Will Simpson was responsible for rigging the torture device within the room. Kilgrave continued to be tortured by the video clips as Jones asked him about them, with Kilgrave insisting he never knew what happened to the other children involved. Just then, Jeri Hogarth arrived in the building and Kilgrave watched on as the two women argued over what could be admissible to exonerating Shlottman from prison.

Once Jones had left to locate Oscar Clemons, Kilgrave non-verbally asked Hogarth to turn on the intercom, which she did. He revealed that he knew about her divorce troubles with Wendy Ross-Hogarth and offered to help if she would let him out. Without ever completely admitting to having mind control powers, Kilgrave hinted that if he did, they could be used to stop Ross-Hogarth's lawsuit and tried to manipulate her by revealing that he have been living with Jones at their house that same week. However Hogarth was unconvinced and mockingly tried to get him to confess on camera for Jones.[2]

Interrogation Through Violence

Having been locked in his room with no communication for several hours, Jessica Jones later returned to bring Kilgrave his lunch and willfully entered his cell to force him to control her on camera so this could be presented to Oscar Clemons. Once inside, she began by seductively touching him in ways that she knew he would find erotic, before attempting to force him to retaliate by physically assaulting him, however Kilgrave knew he could not even attempt to control her mind.

Despite Jones' violent attack on him, throwing him from wall to wall and repeatedly hitting him, Kilgrave held back rather than give in, even begging for help from Jeri Hogarth to ensure that he appeared as the victim in the video. Jones however accused Kilgrave of raping her and forcing her to murder Reva Connors. Though Hogarth was about to hit the red button, seeing this assault as going too far, Trish Walker intervened, allowing Jones to continue. But as Kilgrave antagonised Jones further it was ultimately decided it was enough and Walker stopped Jones' assault before she could kill him.[2]

Manipulating Jeri Hogarth

Kilgrave writes a message on the wall for help

"You are clearly a smart woman, you know that if I did have abilities they wouldn't be inherently bad. Just imagine what someone like that could do. These powers of persuasion, could right any wrong, make any stubborn problem disappear.""Please repeat that for the camera."

With now nothing to do but sit quietly inside his cell and watch as Jessica Jones drank her bottle of Winston Supreme Canadian with Trish Walker remaining by her side, Kilgrave took out and ate his lunch. Using the sauce provided, Kilgrave wrote out a message on the glass wall asking for someone to help him, but this was completely ignored by Jones and everyone else present as she continued to look through the video files while were torturing Kilgrave.

Eventually Jones left to continue investigating Kilgrave's mother and father, leaving only Walker watching Kilgrave's prison cell until she was joined by Jeri Hogarth who had returned from her legal meeting with Hope Shlottman in jail. Hogarth suggested that Walker take a quick break, leaving her alone with Kilgrave, at which point she turned on the speaker and told him that she had reconsidered his offer to help stop Wendy Ross-Hogarth's lawsuit against her with the use of his powers. Upon hearing this, Kilgrave could not help but smile at what could become a great success for him.

Kilgrave made a deal with Hogarth that he would indeed persuade Ross-Hogarth to drop the lawsuit so Hogarth could continue her own relationship with her secretary Pam, and in exchange Hogarth would cut the power to the cell to ensure Kilgrave could not be electrocuted any more. With their deal having just been made, Hogarth stepped through the first doorway of the cell and looked Kilgrave in the eye as she considered the consequences of freeing him from his cage. However before Kilgrave could be freed, Hogarth heard the sound of Jones returning and relocked both of the sealed doors.[2]

Family Reunion

Kilgrave is confronted by his long lost parents

"Why did you leave?!""Your mother nearly died after what you did to her.""I was ten, I had a tantrum like a normal child, I didn't know what I was doing, you didn't explain to me you just left!"

As Jessica Jones returned to the Decommissioned CDC Facility, she turned the camera back on as Kilgrave watched in confusion. To his incredible surprise, Jones had come with his long lost mother and father, whom she finally tracked down. As Kilgrave starred in amazement at his parents, Oscar Clemons arrived and attempted to arrest everyone, having been lured by Jones so he could witness Kilgrave's abilities and was soon disarmed and handcuffed to a nearby pipe to watch the next series of events unfold.

Kilgrave confronts and screams at his parents

Jones allowed the Thompsons to enter the cell alone and greet their son. Kilgrave confronted his parents for leaving him alone and scared as a child, forcing him to make people feed him and care for him which was the only way he could survive. Kilgrave told them how Jones had taught him to be a hero when he had stopped Chuck from killing children before he demanded to know why they had left him, although his father argued that Kilgrave had almost killed his mother. While his mother tried to apologize to her son for his parents' transgressions, resulting in a gentle loving hug

Kilgrave orders his parents to kill themselves

However she then stabbed her son with a pair of scissors, declaring it their responsibility to stop him from harming anyone else. Angered by this betrayal of trust, Kilgrave ordered his mother to pick up the scissors stab herself in the heart for each year she had left him alone and frightened. With her evidence finally proven, Jones attempted to shock the cell, but the line had been cut by Jeri Hogarth. Ignoring his pleas, Kilgrave then ordered his father to cut out his heart now that his mother had bled out and died at his feet while Kilgrave looked on without any emotion for her terrible death.

Kilgrave makes his fast and violent escape

In a desperate attempt to save Kilgrave's father, Trish Walker shot at the glass, breaking it after a few shots and wounding Kilgrave in the shoulder. As he ran out, Kilgrave ordered her to put a bullet in her head, but by this point the gun was empty. He then ordered Oscar Clemons to follow, which he did after breaking his thumb and ripping off his skin to get out of his cuffs. Jones, after knocking out Albert, attempted to restrain Kilgrave. Kilgrave attempted to enthrall her once more and make her let go of him but she resisted, revealing Kilgrave's great secret that she was immune to his power, so he had Clemons attack her, enabling him to get away during the chaos.[2]

On the Run

"I'm not the bad-guy here, you wanted this!""Your own mother?""She was a cold blooded monster who performed barbaric experiments on her own son. What happened to her was justice, the world will not miss her, or my father when I get my hands on him! For christ sake GO!"

Charging outside of the Decommissioned CDC Facility, Kilgrave ordered Jeri Hogarth to stop her car and pick him up, although she tried to pull a gun on him Kilgrave ordered her to throw it away and unlock the door, which she did without any hesitation before driving them to safety moments before Jessica Jones also got outside the building just mere moments too late to recapture Kilgrave.

Once they had gotten a suitable distance away, Kilgrave defended his killing of his own mother, claiming it to be justice as she was a monstrous woman who had performed barbaric experiments on her own son, promising that he would also soon kill his father in similar fashion. Becoming focused on the pain in his shoulder due to being shot by Trish Walker, Kilgrave ordered Hogarth to drive away and bring him to a doctor who she could trust to work on his shoulder and not report them to the police, so Hogarth began driving through the city as commanded to find a doctor to treat Kilgrave.

Instead of going to the Metro-General Hospital, Hogarth then took Kilgrave to the home of her ex-wife Wendy Ross-Hogarth. Although Ross-Hogarth protested at her ex-wife bringing a bleeding stranger into her home, Kilgrave angrily ordered her to shut up and to get her medical bag, he then confronted Hogarth about bringing him there to sign the divorce papers, noting that he wanted someone she could trust and Ross-Hogarth despised her, although Hogarth insisted that Ross-Hogarth was a great doctor and she needed the papers signed fast, so Kilgrave did not question the decision any further.

While Ross-Hogarth treated his wounds Kilgrave questioned what Jessica Jones wanted from him, claiming that he had given Jones everything she had ever wanted, even restoring her childhood home. Hogarth confessed that Hope Shlottman had been pregnant with his child whom she and Jones had helped abort. Upon hearing this Kilgrave demanded to know what had become of his child and Hogarth admitted that she had kept the body for testing, leading to Ross-Hogarth calling her disgusting for such an act while Kilgrave found himself both furious and mildly impressed.

Hogarth was called by Jones and Kilgrave allowed her to answer provided she did not reveal that he was in the room. Jones claimed that Trish Walker had taken Oscar Clemons to the hospital to get treatment on his broken hand while Kilgrave's father was on the run, but Kilgrave did not believe her and the call was disturbed when Ross-Hogarth mistakenly asked loudly if it was Pam on the other end. Hearing the doorbell and fearing he was about to be discovered, Kilgrave escaped through the backdoor, but first he ordered Ross-Hogarth to kill her ex-wife by cutting her one-thousand times.

Blackmailing Jessica Jones

"You know what I call this phase of our relationship? I call it the wrath. First the Shlottmans, then their daughter, and that baby faced boy who slit his own throat, mummy obviously, your lawyer presumably. It's quite a rooster you've inspired, whose next?""You.""I doubt it."

Kilgrave went to Jessica Jones' apartment where he confronted her, admitting that he could not control her but told her she could not kill him as innocent people would commit suicide if she did. Kilgrave told her that he had Hope Shlottman, but when she tried to force him to admit where she was by pressing on his wound, he admitted she was currently still in prison to be freed the next day.

In an attempt to make Jones feel some remorse for her part in the devastation he had caused, Kilgrave began listing off the people who had died since he had returned to New York City, including Bob and Barbara Shlottman as well as Ruben and Jeri Hogarth who he assumed had been killed by Wendy Ross-Hogarth by this point. While Jones attacked Kilgrave and pressed his finger into his open bullet wound, he promised to let Shlottman go free from the Northeastern Correctional Facility in exchange for his father, which she reluctantly considered much to Kilgrave's delight.

While Kilgrave waited for Jones to make up her mind, they discussed whether or not Jones could have ever felt anything for him during their time together. Although Jones insisted she did not, Kilgrave however argued that she once did, when they were together and he allowed her to be free of his control for eighteen seconds and she did not run. Jones claimed she did not have time to jump to freedom as she had wanted to which Kilgrave strongly denied, but she showed him the scars behind her ears, caused by Kilgrave's order for her to cut them off, to prove she was telling the honest truth.

As Kilgrave inspected the scars, Jones then hit him so hard that he flew across the room and was knocked out, before Jones proceeded to tie him up and put gaffer tape over his mouth. Kilgrave quickly was rescued from his situation when Robyn and the other members of the Kilgrave Victim Support Group attacked and knocked out Jones and rescued him by mistake, believing him to be a hostage. Deciding to use them as a bargaining tool for later, Kilgrave put them all under his control before then taking Hope Shlottman from the Northeastern Correctional Facility while Jones awoke in her apartment.[6]

Getting the Upper Hand

Reclaiming Albert Thompson

"She'll never kill me, despite her callous, hard bitten and frankly poorly styled vizard, despite her several problems she still hopes that at her core she might just be a hero. But only if she can save you, the ultimate innocent victim."

Taking the members of the Kilgrave Victim Support Group, Kilgrave forced them to tie nooses around their necks and stand on the edge of a table in Niku. As Malcolm Ducasse and the other support group members struggled to maintain their balance, Kilgrave watched on while he ate dinner with his hostage Hope Shlottman being forced to sit beside him. Having been summoned, Jessica Jones soon arrived with Kilgrave's father. Kilgrave mocked Jones' efforts to become a hero as well as his father's fear of him.

Kilgrave then ordered his father to come over before hugging him, reminding him of the death of his wife. To Kilgrave's shock, Shlottman suddenly grabbed and smashed a wine glass and threatened him, Kilgrave however remained confident and reminded her that she would be unable to kill him. Shlottman however reminded him that Jones could kill him however and stabbed herself in the throat. Seeing the situation falling out of his control, Kilgrave then ordered the group to kill themselves by hanging before escaping with his father while Jones saved them from harm.[6]

Leaving the restaurant in a hurry with his father while Hope Shlottman bled out and died from her wounds, Kilgrave was just able to see in time that Luke Cage was charging straight towards him; Kilgrave managed to stop Cage in his tracks and questioned who he was and why he was there. Cage explained that he was there to kill him which merely frustrated Kilgrave as he ordered Cage to get into the car so he could learn his exact motives for the sudden attack against his life.

Kilgrave soon learned that Cage was Reva Connors' husband and had briefly become Jessica Jones' lover. Disgusted by the fact that Jones had found another partner, Kilgrave insulted their relationship before being told by Cage that it was his own fault that Jones now despised him. In response, Kilgrave ordered Cage to blow up his bar with Jones watching; however, he managed to keep his hold over Cage and gave him specific orders to make Jones believe he had forgiven her for Connors' death and to give him constant updates about her progress in tracking and locating him.[11]

Increasing His Power

Kilgrave confronts his father about failing

"A hundred feet, call that an improvement?""That's up from 80, the changes are incremental not exponential.""I haven't got time for incremental, Jessica's trying to kill me now!"

Kilgrave began working with his father to increase his powers in terms of range and effect length, testing them out in nightclubs where he managed to control a couple of hundred people at a range of a hundred feet; however, his father explained that they could not test if Kilgrave could control Jessica Jones without Jones herself. Kilgrave remained unsatisfied and angry, ordering a drunk teenager to stare at a wall forever, noting that it would not be forever as his powers would still wear off within the normal twelve hours despite his father doing everything he could to improve them.

Kilgrave tries to increase his powers further

Wanting to get more men working on his powers, Kilgrave ordered the staff at ZALK to work non-stop on creating drugs which were made using the body of his and Hope Shlottman's still born child. When they were ready, one man took the bag of drugs to Central Park and delivered them to Kilgrave, before violently killing himself in front of the families, falling head first into a pair of garden sheers and impaling himself. While staying in the home of Justin Boden and Frank Levin, Kilgrave was unsatisfied with the results and confronted his father about the slow progress of the results.

However his now highly frustrated father demanded to be allowed to rest so he could focus better and improve his work. Unwilling to accept these excuses, Kilgrave lost his temper and ordered him to step into the kitchen and turn on the blender while Boden and Levin could only watch on in horror, unable to move from their positions. Kilgrave then ordered his father to slowly lower his hand near the blades and stop millimeters away. Once his father's fingers were close enough to be cut, Kilgrave asked him again if he needed to rest and his father said no, so they continued their work.[11]

Using information given to him by Luke Cage, Kilgrave was able to track Jessica Jones to Delaney Hall; taking over the microphone, Kilgrave called her out onto the stage for another confrontation. As Jones calmly walked towards him, Kilgrave attempted to force her to stop but his powers were still not strong enough and Jones continued walking. Frustrated but not yet beaten, Kilgrave quoted back what Cage had said and revealed that he had been the one who had told Cage to say it, before ordering Cage to hit her.

Kilgrave proudly revealed how his powers had increased and he had Cage until his control the entire time, and Cage claimed that he could never forgive her for killing Reva Connors, although Jones tried to talk him down. Kilgrave claimed he had never wanted this but she had failed his test, before ordering Cage to kill her. As Cage began to beat Jones to death, Kilgrave continued to mock her, claiming all his tender moments were controlled by him. When Jones attempted to attack him, Kilgrave ordered Cage to go stop her before escaping, leaving Jones to die by the hands of the man she truly loved.[11]

Hospital Ambush

"Are you upset with me for not dying? Did I foil your evil plan?""Evil? Come on, how reductive. I suppose me evil means you good, bullshit! It's true that I've never given a second thought to anyone that I've let die, but I take no pleasure in it, like a truly evil man would. I'm merely removing nuances, public service really."

Knowing that Jessica Jones defeated Luke Cage and rushed him to Metro-General Hospital, Kilgrave called her on the phone, mocking her for saving her own life and risking Cage's and expressed his new found hatred for Jones. He was insulted about his so called evil plan, Kilgrave claimed not to be evil, just removing nuisances from his life. As Jones discovered his location, Kilgrave fled, before ordering every person in the hospital to kill her.[12]

Purple Man

Power through Pain

"I'd do anything to see the look on her face when she realizes she's helpless. I'd make her want me, then reject her, devastate her over and over and over until she wants to die. Nah I won't give her that either, she'd wither away like someone dying of thirst or starvation. Be a ring of hell designed especially for her. Or maybe I'll just kill her."

Furious that he had once again failed to kill Jessica Jones as she had escaped from the Metro-General Hospital with Luke Cage, Kilgrave took out his rage on his father, who he accused of not working hard enough despite being more powerful than ever. Desiring to become as powerful as he could possibly be, Kilgrave questioned what would happen if he was injected with all the drugs, although his father warned that the most likely result would be his death.

As he considered the risks, Kilgrave asked what his father wanted the result to be and he admitted that he wanted his son to die, to which Kilgrave turned to Justin Boden and Frank Levin to show his disgust at his father's words before admitting that he would like to see his father die as well. Kilgrave thought for a moment and decided to go ahead with the injection regardless of the risks involved, he then moved onto the balcony, looking over New York City while considering that he could finally put Jones back under his power and then reject her, driving her mad and eventually to her suicide.

Kilgrave temporarily turning purple

Once the drug was ready, Kilgrave braced himself and allowed his father to inject him in the back of the neck with the mixture created from Hope Shlottman's child. The injection caused him incredible pain, making him scream out as his skin and veins briefly turned purple while everyone in the room could only watch in horror. The experiment was a success, but in a fit of rage, Kilgrave ordered Boden and Levin to cut off his father's arms and destroy them in a blender before killing themselves with poison while he began making a plan to use his new power to finally kill Jones.[12]

Kilgrave invited Jessica Jones to meet him at the Hudson Ferry Terminal for their final confrontation. She arrived with her hood covering her face and looking down, Kilgrave mocked Jones for not having the courage to look him in the eye and unveiled the team of New York City Police Department officers under his control. However the woman was then revealed to be Trish Walker, annoying Kilgrave until he spotted the real Jones and ordered the officers to shoot her.

As Kilgrave made his way to the yacht, Jones managed to catch up with him; however he had already prepared a group of innocent people to block her path. To stop Jones, Kilgrave ordered the people to kill each other, forcing Jones and Walker to try to protect them. As Jones continued to walk towards him, Kilgrave roared with all this might, causing his skin and veins to briefly turn purple again as he ordered everyone to stop, which they did, including Jones. Kilgrave briefly believed that Jones was faking but she claimed that she wanted him to stop the people hurting each other.

Kilgrave claimed that Jones could have never loved him as she had never loved anyone except Trish Walker. To mock Jones, Kilgrave ordered Walker to come over to him and claimed that he had chosen the wrong sister to love, promising he would rape her continually for the rest of her life and make her his slave while she died inside. Kilgrave promised that if either of them ever saw Jones again, he would make Walker cut her own throat. He then forced Walker to kiss him passionately while he stared at Jones.[12]

The Fatal Mistake

"My god, it's finally over, you're mine now. No more fighting, no more of these ugly displays, you'll be with me now. Look, after a while, however long it takes, I know, I know you will feel what I feel. Let's start with a smile... Tell me you love me."

Seeing that she had still not moved from her spot and had made no effort to save Trish Walker from him, Kilgrave became convinced that his powers had indeed allowed him to control Jessica Jones once again. Delighted, Kilgrave approached her and promised Jones that after a while of being together she would love him like he loved her. To test his theory Kilgrave ordered her to smile, which she obeyed instantly.

Overcome with joy at the prospect of having Jones back, Kilgrave ordered her to tell him she loved him. Glancing over his shoulder to Walker, Jones said the words as instructed. However as he stood staring at her, Jones then grabbed Kilgrave's face and lifted him off the ground with one arm. As Kilgrave looked down in confusion and horror, Jones mockingly told him to smile before breaking his neck, killing him instantly and dropping his body to the ground, freeing all those around the docks from his mind control.[12]

Legacy

Haunting Jessica Jones

Jessica's hallucination of Kilgrave

"Don't lie to yourself. I felt you shudder when you were so close. You wanted it. And that terrifies you.""It should. Because I'm not a killer. I'm not you. I'm not my mother. I can control myself. Which means I'm more powerful than you ever were."

Despite being gone for good, Kilgrave continued to have a lasting impact on Jessica's mental health, who feared she may be heading down a murderous path upon killing him. After accidentally killing another man, Jessica began to hallucinate a taunting Kilgrave, who pressured her over it, which got progressively more severe over a day. The hallucinations only stopped when Jessica spared the life of Karl Malus and declared to herself she wouldn't go down that path.

Personality

"It's true that I've never given a second thought to anyone that I've let die, but I take no pleasure in it... like a truly evil man would. I'm merely... removing nuisances. Public service, really. But you... I believe for the first time, I will rather enjoy watching you die."

Kilgrave lacked any form of moral compass or conscience. Unlike Wilson Fisk or Cornell Stokes, who relied on brute force to get what they wanted, Kilgrave embraced a more psychological approach when enforcing his will on others. If someone annoyed him, he would frequently go out of his way to order them to do something vicious to themselves. An example of this was when he ordered a newspaper salesman to throw his hot coffee over his face simply for telling him to stop loitering. This was only a mild example; he had been known to order people to remain motionless for hours on end or even to commit suicide in the most brutal of ways. He also had little, if any, self-control, with a tendency to overreact to even the slightest insult. He repeatedly raped female thralls such as Jessica Jones and Hope Shlottman, impregnating the latter, and was apparently too divorced from human morality to realize it was rape, considering he took them out for fine dining and hotels.

Before he met Jones, Kilgrave was used to getting everything he wanted, essentially a spoiled child in an adult body. However, when Jones managed to escape his influence, Kilgrave became obsessed with Jones; stalking her and trying everything in his power to get at her with the ultimate goal of trying to make her his. To further this goal, Kilgrave attempted to destroy anyone even remotely close to Jones. Hope Shlottman and her family were mere toys for Kilgrave and his attempts to woo Jones. He turned Jones' neighbor Malcolm Ducasse into a drug addict so he could use him to get pictures of her. This would have also happened to Jones' sister Trish Walker, when he was just about to escape wanted the ultimate act of revenge against Jones by taking one of the only people she ever loved and turning into his plaything; in Jones' mind he would be raping her, whilst Walker was slowly dying in her own mind.

However, when forced to see the experiments that created him, Kilgrave showed genuine sadness and discomfort, covering his ears and assuming the fetal position in order to hide from the video being shown. However, he was also shown to have enough strong will to endure ten hours of surgery while awake, using an epidural instead, since putting him unconscious with surgical anesthesia, such as propofol or sufentanil would shut down different bodily functions, removing his control over others. He then watched as the man he enthralled, David Kurata, performed the surgery to give him Jack Denton's kidney's, the latter of whom he also enthralled.

Ironically, despite being child-like himself, Kilgrave immensely disliked children, believing they should be "seen and not heard, or better still not seen and not heard". Without batting an eyelid, he put the children of a family into a closet and told them to be quiet, not caring that the family's daughter needed the toilet. He also told a man he controlled to become his chauffeur to leave his child on the side of the street. He also saw no regret in using the fetus of his aborted child with Shlottman in order for his father to research ways to expand his powers to greater levels. One of his most defining traits was his complete refusal to take responsibility for any of his actions, often twisting events and finding reasons to make it sound like others were to blame or that his victims deserved the horrible fate he gave them.

At one point, he went so far as to say Jones didn't love him because she was incapable of loving another person, not even considering the possibility that it was because he turned her into his personal mind-slave. Ultimately, Kilgrave's personality was little more than that of a sociopath.

Powers

"How am I supposed to know? I never know if someone is doing what they want or what I tell them to!""Oh poor you.""You have no idea, do you? I have to painstakingly choose every word I say. I once told a man to go screw himself can you even imagine?"

Mind Control: Kilgrave had the ability to control another person's mind through literal verbal commands and make them completely obedient to him, thanks to a virus that he emits through micro particles in the air. He controlled Hope Shlottman for weeks and Jessica Jones for months, and he was able to enter into another man's house by simply saying "you'd like to invite me in" in order to acquire a place to stay. Kilgrave acquired over a million dollars by having the participants of a poker game all fold after betting everything. His abilities invade peoples thoughts and will, to the point of making them seemingly not feel emotion while performing his orders. This is not always the case, as some victims, especially some of the people he told to kill or harm themselves showed visible fear or confusion, such as Albert Thompson, who was panicked when Kilgrave enthralled him to go with him and put his hand near the blades inside a blender. Some people seemed overwhelmed with anxiety and panic while trying to or being unable to carry out Kilgrave's wishes, such as Hope Shlottman when Jessica was keeping her from staying in the bed Kilgrave told her to stay in. Trish Walker was having an emotional breakdown from stress when she was unable to put a bullet in her skull as Kilgrave told her to. Lastly, Albert was frantic when trying to cut out his heart on Kilgrave's orders. His control over others' actions even seemed to make him able to control their emotions, such as making a little girl he sent as a messenger to Jessica angrily insult her for leaving Kilgrave for dead. He may have also done so to Luke Cage, making him angrily state that he could never forgive Jones for killing Reva Connors, though he did later hesitate in his actions and his anger with sadness when asking Jessica to shoot him. His victims in the hospital were urgently looking for Jones and even worked together to expose her, as one suspicious nurse alerted the others to Jones when she was disguised. However, Kilgrave himself had to have been present for his commands to have an immediate effect; speaking over a phone did not enthrall his victim. Kilgrave's power also had a time limit of ten to twelve hours before his victim began to regain his or her will. Until the time limit was up, the victims would continue to follow Kilgrave's commands unless he gave them a different order to follow. His power was revealed to be a side-effect of the viral treatment used to cure his childhood degenerative disease. If a person managed to have a significantly traumatic event happen to them to the point that they can break free of that control, they became immune to the virus and to the mind control itself. His thralls must have fulfilled Kilgrave's words specifically, but sometimes they were open to interpretation as when he told Trish Walker to put a bullet in her skull, and therefore in her head, and she automatically assumed she had to shoot herself in the head. Jessica Jones found a loophole in that command and told Walker to place a bullet inside her mouth, which was technically in her head, allowing her to satisfy Kilgrave's command. He was also willing to use an epidural during surgery to replace his kidneys, since putting him unconscious with surgical anesthesia, such as propofol or sufentanil would shut down different bodily functions, removing his control over others. Initially, Kilgrave could control anyone in his immediate vicinity or "share the same air with him", according to Jessica, but after Albert Thompson performed more experiments, he was able to extend Kilgrave's power to the distance of over a hundred yards and a time limit of 16 hours first, and then up to 24; later, Kilgrave demonstrated that he could control people by voice alone, without being present, when he took control of Metro-General Hospital and had everyone pursuing Jones to kill her by telling them to over the P.A. system. When enhanced for the final time by his father, ordering a large crowd of people to stop what they where doing caused purple veins to appear on his face.

Trivia

In the comics, Zebediah Killgrave (with two Ls) was a spy from Yugoslavia who was exposed to chemicals during a mission of industrial espionage. The accident changed his skin purple, granting him the name of Purple Man, and allowing him to control people's minds through their pheromones. He became a regular foe of Daredevil, and the arch-nemesis of Jessica Jones.

Kilgrave tends to dress using purple suits and clothing, alluding further to his codename in the comics. Though in the series he is never referred to by that name.

When injected with the drug to enhance his powers and then later, when shouting at a large crowd of people to stop what they were doing at the Hudson Ferry Terminal, Kilgrave's veins briefly turned purple, a nod to his codename in the comics.